Our Chinese New Year So Far…

Went to church in the morning on Sunday. Were careful to make sure there was church. (Of course there was.)

The Mens and me realizing they have matching Mens Bags (bought years apart)

No, no, scratch that. Do over.

Truth is, Little Miss decided she would not be eating with a spoon that morning, and preferably not with a bottle either. Basically not eat except to stave off the worst of her hunger. Ditto her attitude with Naps. She has serious psychic abilities to determine when she can push her luck. That would be when I don’t want a scream-fest on the first day of Chinese New Year.

So.

Rushed to church in the morning since there was church and it was one of those times the family timing is kind of a-lmost right, which is already less often than we’d like.

Impromptu Skype with grandparents (pic taken earlier at the Peak) - we've been doing several a day during this hol season

But none of us finished breakfast for a variety of reasons (Rockstar probably did the best job in between Skype-ing the grandparents – Kings and I were Oops Forgot To Eat Ok Two Mouthfuls And Out The Door.)

Star family member in brown check shirt.

(Yes we were surprised there were so many more Asians than Caucasians given the Asian holiday… Think those who don’t celebrate actually went for long weekend at beach resort or something)

“Hello” (she joined us in adult service)

"Goodbyezzz" (On the 2nd floor with adjacent baby room.)

(She woke about half hour later fully recharged and raring to go. Would do that throughout the day. After all, it’s CNY. Mummee’s not gonna enforce anything – Yippee!)

Not surprisingly we were starving after church (Rockstar wasn’t really, but he will always claim he is because of the awesome vending machine that serves up the dried seaweed he loves) so we made an impromptu trip to Habitu in Elements. Was quite disappointed Little Miss was still in PJs and Rockstar is in a new but unremarkable shirt and Kings and I………. Uh….. We hoped to just make it to church and then go home, baby gets her beloved Room and Nap, maybe we have a meal out later where we can dress nicely and take pictures.

Wow did that not happen.

Babies as Directors Of Operations are so We Hope For This But It Just Wasn’t Going To Happen. They should all get together, form a club and print baby onesies with ”Hah!” on them.

Instead, this did.

So…. Our CNY-Meal-To-Stave-Off-Hunger At Weird Time Of Day was Tiger Prawn Linguini, Black Truffle Pizza, All Day Breakfast, Rose Latte, San Pellegrino, OJ and Farley’s Rusk in Breastmilk. Well, we simply walked into the Caffe and that’s what we ordered.

Daddy And Favorite Female Companion Still In Gap PJs (And Kings was in some Baleno thing he threw on - because we were all Ok We Shall Be Decently Clothed/Covered At Church. Full Stop. Draw A Long Line.)

(Thank God at least I happened to put her in her best PJs overnight)

At some point we realize it is now almost 4pm and we are probably not going to crawl out from home again all dressed up (like, ZZZZZZZ) so The Mens decided to cook dinner. (Which was honestly SO MUCH MORE AWESOME!!!)

The Mens perusing the Finest Seafood in the Land

(Ok, The Mens perusing the Finest Seafood Available In Nearest Supermarket because our helper also confirmed yesterday that the wet market was devoid of anything good, wet, slippery, fresh since all the fishermen might by now also be enjoying that long weekend at a beach resort)

Dis is a picture of Rockstar with a fish tank

Rockstar: Mum. Look! Why’s that fish swimming like that?

Me: Is that one of those fish that like to burrow at the bottom of the sea?

Yes, her latest new skill is clicking her tongue. Amazingly well, and very cute, except when she does it reproachfully while you are trying to feed her. Then it’s annoying.

Back home….

The Mens preparing our meal! Rockstar's stirring up the pancake mix.

Very traditional Malaysian cooking scene hor? Old clothes and slippers because of greasy frying action…

Lesser known fact: Kings put himself through London School of Econs by among other things waitering and stir-fry cooking in a Chinese restaurant in Brighton weekends.

Rockstar prepared Little Miss' rusk too!

So anyway Kings taught Rockstar to make shrimp pancakes with lotsa fried onions and garlic. Rockstar is also crushing a rusk for She Who Has Decided CNY Is Great For Nixing Naps And Proper Meals. And <Click> <Click>.

That was our Sunday.

Moral of the story (if you can call it that): It’s just really hard to force little kids (well, babies) to stick to a planned itinerary (or reservations). I mean we could have, but that would have meant some stress and tears. I really don’t want stress and tears as part of the “auspicious” ringing in of Chinese New Year. Was pretty bummed with Little Miss still in PJs and Kings and I in goodness-knows-what for our first real meal (notice I can’t even refer to it as “breakfast,” “lunch” or “dinner”) but most importantly no one cried a whole lot or felt miserable. To me that’s an awesome CNY.

Oh, and we’ll have some more CNY-ey stuff in HK eventually, with Kings’ clients and stuff (in fact he’s been working from home or on the phone all through CNY anyway). Kinda starting late here – we would like that to be viewed as coming to the party late but happy.

Yums.

Ps: That’s authentic kuih from Penang at right – I should’ve taken more pictures but we’ve scarfed down most of our supply already. My parents carefully (and rather apologetically, because they couldn’t make it over here) packed and shipped 3 boxes over by registered mail. They’re still fretting because the last box has yet to arrive, they worry someone will filch the biscuits because they are the best-est AUTHENTIC PENANG KUIH-MUIH they could find. #Penangmakanpride.

About Aileen

I blog about living and raising my son in Hong Kong - where toddlers have entrance interviews, parents keep test score spreadsheets, private school debentures can trade for more than half a million USD. Raising Rockstar's the most important thing I'll ever do. We show our true colors by the choices we make in bringing up our children. My blog is a message to my toddler son, about what the world and his parents are like today - for when he becomes a teenager and knows everything.

In my books, that’s a wonderful CNY first day that you had. What else could beat having the whole family together – all happy – see how happy Ms Rockstar was with her daddy in the photo and Rockstar smiling away shopping for dinner and while cooking. Who cares about the clothes.

Enjoy, enjoy the rest of the 13 days of CNY!

Do people eat Yee Sang in HK? Is it popular?

http://raisingrockstar.com Aileen

It is really not. One restaurant, Maxim, just started to offer yee sang – we happened to hear about it from my parents’ friend who lives here – at the packed, large restaurant, I counted maybe 4 being served, aside from ours…

Who cares about the clothes. Thank you.

Jessie Yap

Don’t beat yourself up. Doing pretty great with the little missy there. More often than not I just avoid going out with T. Too much hassle and stress. Happy Chinese New Year and hope things will be better this year

http://raisingrockstar.com Aileen

Thanks for the encouragement dear, yes CNY should be without hassle and stress. Especially stress. It makes for a very unhappy ringing in of the year. Hope you had a great time with little mr T and the rest of your family.

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To My Son And Daughter. For when they become teenagers who know everything. Because we show our true colors- our beliefs, our prejudices, our weaknesses, our hopes – by the choices we make in raising our rockstars. “Mummy” is an honor that ranks higher than Derivatives Structuring Head, Big Fat Investment Bank. Higher than CEO, Biggest Conglomerate Ever. ‘Cause a long time ago, even they had Mummies.